Love Bugs: A Breath of the Wild One-Shot
by Nathaniel Shepard
Summary: Prima is a young woman working at an Inn that dreams of having the time to fall in love. Manny is a self-appointed watchman who wishes he had the courage to speak to the woman he has fallen for. With a little nudge from a stranger, these too may discover that what they've been seeking was easier to find than they thought.


**Love Bugs**

Prima sighed as the sun sank low enough for its rays to pass through the western window, striking her face. It was only ever maybe thirty minutes to an hour out of the day, but she always ended up with a headache when the beams hit her eyes. She'd been asking for Leop to invest in curtains for some time now, but Inns didn't see a lot of business these days.

"We cater to the very brave and the very foolish," Leop would tell her. "We provide beds to those who are brave enough to travel the roads as well as any foolish enough to pay double for an extra pillow." Prima suspected half the reason he had hired her was because a pretty face rented more beds than a crotchety old man.

Still though, the job was not without its perks. Squinting against the sunlight, she glanced out the window towards the stables where he stood as usual. Wavy brown hair curled down around his ears as a light breeze tussled it gently. He wore a white shirt under tan overalls, standing with his back to a post as he eyed every person who passed by the Inn. His name was Manny.

As far as she could tell he was keeping watch for trouble, not that there was ever much trouble in Hateno. The narrow paths leading up to the village were carefully watched and the few people in town who knew how to wield a blade were enough to keep the occasional bokoblin at bay. Many suspected that the bigger beasts shied away from the village because of the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab up the hill, but nobody knew for sure what went on up there.

Prima longed to be able to simply go out and talk with the man. Unfortunately, she was as good as rooted to her post. Leop could only afford one employee and she was it, Goddess forbid the man himself ever take a turn behind the counter. The only thing keeping Prima on her feet was the carrot stew Uma brought her each day. One sip of that and she could practically feel the fatigue drain down through her body and out her toes.

She breathed a sigh of relief as the sun finally slipped behind the Dueling Peaks, taking a swallow of stew broth from the thermos she kept under the counter. Glancing out the window, Prima expected to see Manny take leave from his post and head home for the night. Honestly, she almost envied him for being allowed the luxury of a good night's sleep. What she was surprised to see was that Manny was talking to somebody.

The boy was shorter than most people in town. He wore a standard tunic, in the style that was sold locally here in town, and was equipped with a sword, shield and bow all strapped to his back. It was adventurers like him that allowed Inns like Ton Pu to exist in the first place. This adventurer's unkempt blond hair was pulled back in a short tail while a pair of locks fell down across the front of his ears. It was a very distinctive style, one that Prima recognized instantly.

"Good," she muttered to herself. "Maybe he can talk some sense into him." Her mind replayed the interaction she and the boy-adventurer had a few days ago. Prima had seen him at least a half dozen times before and even the first time they'd met she'd thought he was a little off. For starters he didn't talk much. Rarely said anything more than what was necessary. He'd rented a bed a few times, even paid for the extra pillow at least once. Later she found out he had purchased a house in town. Why, then, did he bother renting a bed at all? It just didn't make sense.

Of course, this was all before his most recent visit. Two days ago he came into the Inn and, for whatever reason, stepped behind the counter and approached her. Nervously, she asked if he needed something.

"What do you like?"

Prima was flabbergasted. Here was this boy, who had to be sixteen years old at the most, that she had only met all of five or six times before and he was asking her what she liked. Her thoughts raced. She didn't know him and she was damn sure he didn't know a thing about her. Why the hell should she have to tell him anything? Especially something so personal? The best she could do was toss out something at random. Maybe it would make him go away.

"I'll tell you something I really like," she said. "Crickets. It's my very own dream to have a collection of one hundred restless crickets." _There_ , she thought. _Maybe THAT will scare him off!_

The boy pondered a moment than nodded, leaving the Inn.

"If Manny is having a talk with him, I shouldn't have to worry anymore," Prima thought aloud. Pleased she wouldn't have to put up with that kid anymore, she settled down in spot for the night, ready to serve any rare customers that happened to walk in.

The sun was just beginning to rise when the door to the Inn swung open. Prima roused herself from her thoughts and stood stunned as Manny stood silhouetted against the early morning light.

"W-welcome to the Ton Pu Inn," she stammered. "A regular bed is 20 rupees. O-or if you prefer…"

Manny withdrew a hand from behind his back and set a small box down on the counter. "Uh… I've been checking y-I MEAN. Th-these are for you."

Prima felt the blood rush to her cheeks as her face flushed. She looked down at the simple box before her. A faint chirp sounded somewhere. "Um. Thanks. I appreciate it, Manny."

At the mention of his name, Manny straightened up and coughed, failing to conceal a blush of his own. "I tried to find something you'd like. Please enjoy."

Struggling to breathe evenly, Prima laid a tentative hand on top of the box. Finally she took a deep breath and opened the lid.

Prima screamed.

A hundred green blurs leapt from the box, spreading across the counter and hopping across the floor. Prima began swatting frantically at those that landed on her blouse.

"What in Calamity's name?!" Her foot came down on another of the crickets as it tried to flee. "What is the meaning of this?

Manny stood in front of the counter, stunned. "But I thought…"

"You better help me round them up!" Prima shouted. "I swear to god if even one of them ends up in the kitchen's food stores…"

Snapping out of his stupor, Manny ran into the kitchen and grabbed a broom. Standing at the threshold, he bat at and swept away any of the insects that drew too close. With him on one side of the room and Prima on the other, the crickets had nowhere left to flee. After at least an hour of swatting, squashing and sweeping the infestation had finally been dealt with.

Panting, Prima marched out from behind the counter for the first time in years and jabbed her finger straight into Manny's chest. "What in Naydra's name were you thinking, bringing those… things in hee?"

"I…"

"What if he had guests?" she continued. "Don't you think they'd have been woken up by all this commotion?"

Manny looked sheepishly down at his feet. "But you said you liked them. That it was your dream."

"What are you talking about? Why would I ever say…" Prima trailed off, a memory flashing through her mind. Unkempt blond hair, pulled into a short tail. Blue eyes and a mouth that only said what needed to be said, except for once. "He was asking for YOU?!"

Shuffling his feet, Manny nodded. His shoulders slumped as he mumbled an apology. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to get you something nice, something you'd really like.

Prima took several deep breaths, reigning her emotions back in. Isn't this what she wanted? The chance to talk with the man she had been gazing at so longingly for months? Seeing the look in his eyes, Prima realized how much courage it had taken for him just to walk through that door. For all intents and purposes it seemed that he felt the same for her as she did for him. Sighing, she placed her hands on his shoulders and looked straight into his eyes.

"Look, I appreciate the thought," she began. "I really do. But if you really want to give this a shot, then you have to make me a promise. No more weird stuff, okay?"

Manny matched her eyes, a realization dawning on him. "Okay…"

"And if you want to know something, anything about me… all you have to do is ask."

A grin spread across Manny's face. "Alright. Uh…" He glanced down again, sheepishly. "Do you like dinner?"

Prima fought back a laugh at the way he worded the question. "Yeah, I like dinner."

"Great, what time are you off?"

She opened her mouth to say she worked around the clock but stopped herself. A thought formed in her head and she grinned mischievously. "You know what? I can be off around six. To Calamity with Leop, he can run the Inn for a couple hours while we eat."

"I'll see you then." Manny bowed as he walked backwards from the Inn, narrowly avoiding tripping down the stairs.

Prima nodded, feelings of joy welling up inside her. It was a solid twelve hours until their date but she'd been working a year straight as it was. Another half a day wouldn't kill her.

Settling back into her place behind the counter, Prima hummed a love song to herself. It was something she had heard once years back from a wandering Rito minstrel that had paid Hateno a visit. She couldn't remember all of the words but the tune had never left her mind.

Somewhere in the Inn, a cricket chirped.

 **The End**


End file.
